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USAopoly has announced their latest video game themed board game - Street Fighter Monopoly! The game will feature Street Fighter themed properties, artwork and tokens, but the fans will be able to have some say in who makes the cut. Capcom-Unity is holding a poll with 12 character options, with the top 6 becoming the tokens for the game.Vote here.

We've all seen plenty of Nintendo keychains, but Super Mario key holders? These are rubber charms from the Super Mario series that can hold a key for decorative purposes. The set consists of 8 well known Super Mario icons; Mushrooms, Koopa Shells, blocks, a coin, and Mario's face. These have just been released at arcades, but no import shops have these, so YJA will probably be the best bet.

Nintendo teamed up with iam8bit and Giant Robot to hold a Rhythm Heaven Fever launch event in Los Angeles on February 10th. The party sounds like it was a blast with a bunch of Wiis hooked up with the new game, free food and drinks, a DJ, artists, and, best of all, merchandise. Just for walking through the door, attendees received a T-shirt, poster and stickers adorning the quirky artwork that Rhythm Heaven is known for. It also looks quite a few Rhythm Heaven themed plushes, headphones and props were commissioned for the event. There was even a raffle with the winners receiving the Rhythm Heaven paintings which were created during the event.
Wish I was there!

Super Mario 3D Land has all the enemy mainstays, while introducing us to quite a few new enemies. Lucky for us, Takara Tomy is taking the best of both worlds with their 3D Land enemy collection figure set. The set takes veterans Thomp, Boo, Goomba and Bullet Bill and slaps a Tanooki Tail on them, just like in the game. Meanwhile, first time enemies Stingby, Biddybuds, Wallop and Prongo are busy getting their very first pieces of merchandise with this set. On a side note, this also marks the first figure for Coin Coffer/Moneybag, who has been around the Mario universe (sparingly) since Super Mario 64!
And to top things off, HLJ has these listed at only 1200 Yen for a box of 15 with a May release.

A couple Gacha figure sets from Sonic and Super Mario Galaxy 2 have been spotted at Target retailers. The Sonic set is a brand new with 6 figures, while the Super Mario Galaxy 2 set is a localized version of the Japanese enemy collection figures. Each figure is a couple dollars and blind packaged, but it looks like you might be able to see into the packaging...even if it will draw weird looks from employees and other shoppers. It's great seeing a lot of the Japanese merchandise making its way over here, hopefully that trend continues!

Remember that pair of Metroid: Other M figures announced a few months ago? Well, Figma is prepping for a June release and has detailed all the accessories. The 1/10th Varia Suit Samus is super-posable and comes with 5 hands, two beam shots, the missile nozzle, pegs for posing and even a Morph Ball. Zero Suit, on the other hand, is a 1/8th stationary statue and comes with a Metroid and clear plastic stand. And apparently, the Metroid from the Zero Suit figure fits snugly on the head of the suited Samus - funny!
These have been appearing in quite a few import shops for preorder, with AmiAmi being the cheapest:

Resident Evil Revelations releases in only a few weeks, and will be launching alongside a strategy guide/art book in Japan. The books contains 192 pages of what you would expect from a guide; maps, strategies and secrets, but also contains pages of concept art. On February 22nd, Capcom is releasing the official Revelations soundtrack, containing 66 tracks spanning 2 CDs. As a bonus, the first run of the soundtrack will also come with a Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D disc, all packed in a special edition sleeve. These have only been announced for Japan, but I wouldn't be surprised if they pop up in the Capcom Online Shop.

Takara Tomy is releasing a small set of Kirby figures that highlight some of Kirby's transformations from Return to Dreamland. They appear to very similar in size and style to previous Kirby figures, but this set consists of some new forms from the game (Lasso and Leaf Kirby) and uses different poses for the returning forms (Sword, Ninja and basic Kirby). These will be released February in Japan, but haven't been spotted on any import shops as of yet.

Like most years, 2011 saw the release of tons of new merchandise representing countless series. It was an especially big year for Legend of Zelda merchandise due to the release of Ocarina of Time 3D and Skyward Sword, and because 2011 marked the 25th anniversary for the beloved series. Another big anniversary was the Dragon Quest 25th, which was celebrated in Japan with TONS of merchandise. A lot of creative Portal merchandise was released throughout the year courtesy of ThinkGeek and an overall influx of Valve merchandise thanks to the company's online shop. Angry Birds, the phenomenon iOS game, received the merchandise treatment with plushes, board games, costumes; you name it! Another big series this year was Uncharted, with the third entry receiving a collector's edition and Nathan Drake getting a few figures. Megaman didn't do so much on the video game front, but had a lot of new merchandise make its way to stores, along with the spectacular D-Arts figures. Even Jak and Daxter, who haven't had a game since 2006, received a pair of new figures (and even got their own Minimates)! 2011 also marked the return of video game merchandise to retail stores with Walmart, Toys 'R Us and other big name companies stocking all sorts of merch. It was a great year for collectors of all series, old and new!
Now, lets check out VGMM members' favorites of the year after the break.

Welcome to the last Pokemon Update until the New Year!
This one covers only one new set, but it's a doozy. Pokemon Centers have recently released a massive set of metal Pokemon charms that cover the first 256 Pokemon (first 2 generations). Each charm comes with the base Pokemon and any evolution form that it may have. These range from 150-1000 Yen depending on how many charms it includes, so it would be costly to complete this one!
Hit 'Read More' for a bunch of Pokemon Snaps!

It appears that the Target Mario Kart Wii RC could be getting a little bit of an expansion soon. An eBay auction for a Peach RC (which wasn't in the original set) has been spotted along with its set sheet, which contains newcomers Donkey Kong and Toad. According to Target's website these aren't available yet, but I have a feeling they will be released in the coming months. A bit of a pain for those who thought they had the complete set, but I know Peach collectors won't be complaining!

As you weekly readers know, the Pokemon Center stores in Japan spawn loads of new Pokemon merchandise each week. However, there is a lot that many of us (myself included) don't know about these stores, since they are mostly in Japan. So, here's a little VGMM guide to Pokemon Centers:

The first Pokemon Center store opened up 1998 in Tokyo, and since then, 6 other stores have opened their doors in Japan. The Japanese stores are located in Sapporo, Tohoku, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Each store has a completely different design and unique logo; check out pictures of each of the stores after the break (with the brand new Tohoku store pictured above). A majority of the merchandise featured in this column each week comes from the Japanese stores, but there are also a few in the Seattle area (shops located at Northgate Mall, Alderwood Mall and Tacoma Mall) and Nintendo World Store in New York (which used to be a Pokemon Center). Pokemon Center also has an official website which features info about each of the stores and the latest merchandise. It would definitely be fun to visit at least one of these stores, but I'm sure my wallet wouldn't enjoy it!